Ferry-bridge.



I PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906. N. W. GONDICT & J. B FRENCH.

i FER-RY BRIDGE.

APPLICATION FILED 0GT.3, 1905. a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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APPLICATION FILED O 05. 0T 3 19 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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N. W. CONDICT & J. B. FRENCH.

FERRY BRIDGE.

APPLICATION rum) 0012a, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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UNITED surges PATENT. OFFICE.

NATHAigi To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, NATHAN W. Connro'r,

a resident of Jersey FRENCH, of Queens,

ing is a specification.

Our invention relates to the construction and o eration of bridges for use in connection with erry-boats for passengers or ferry-b0 ats for cars, these latter boats being commonly termed transfer-boats.

These bridges are connected up to the boats I when the latter are moored to their slips to the passengers, vehicles,

onto or off the boats. these bridges are supported at their outer or free ends by pontoons and by counterweights.

Our invention relates more particularly to a construction of ferry-bridge in which pontoons are dispensed with,

to provide an improveu mechanical construction bridges without pontoons and use of aprons commonly used for transfer- This object we accomplish by justing the bridge by means of screws which have a slip connection with the bridge and rovided with self-adjusting nuts accommo ating themselves to the varying posi permit moved our invention being bridges.

tions of the bridge.

In the accompanying drawings we have shown our invention as applied ferry-bridge which is more especially designed for use in connection with transferfor the handling of railroad-cars; but

understood that the invenlicable to ferry-bridges for icle traliic.

boats it will be readily. tion is equally ap passenger and ve Figure 1 is an end of a transfer ferry-boat bridge embodying our invention. Fig.

tion on the line 2 2,, Fig. 1. view, partly in section and. drawn to an enlarged scale, of the Fig. 4 is a vertical section 0 line 4 4, Fig. 3. Fig 5 is an enlarged view another detail, and fication.

In the drawings, representing the bridges for transfer-boats, we have s own the bridge as in two parts A l tion as ap lied to FERRY-BRIDGE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed October 3,1905. Serial No. 281,199.

City, in the county of may be in one part.

and JAMES B.

in the county have invented an orcars to be Commonly vide two vertical for to make one with the main object oi for handling the right 01' Fig. 1..

bridge, whereby to a type of view, partly in section,

ably connected with longitudinal see- Fig. 3 is a plan 2 is a worms 9 g on shafts for the screw. the same on the of ig. 6 is a view of a modigearing driven by electric invenshat t.

terweights IV on wir passing over pulleys P e two parts A A l. from these beams by mitting the beams to rise on desired, as indicated by dotted lines at the p In this way a slip connection is provided between the screw-rods and the the latter may rise on the rods or irrespective of them. ends of these screws pass mounted in bearings in of the fixed trestle, an nuts and screws way serve bridge when desired it one shall rotate and th the present instance we screws as non-rotatable, made to rotate the nuts. after more particularly described, are ad ustworm-wheels G, turning estle and meshing with H, which may be prourning them by hand,

e other shall not.

on bearings on the tr vided with means for t as through chain-wheels, but preferably are motors.

ting the worm-wheels and nuts for the two screw-rods of each beam are mounted on the same shaft H and are right and left worms, so as to avoid end thrust onthe The detailed construction of the nuts and worms and. worm-wheels will be underthe two worms opera wl -i'itiimio'r, or JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, AND JAMES B.

FRENCH, or JAMAICA, NEW YORK.

Patented June 26, 1906.

At the shore end the bridge, whether in one part or in two parts, is sustained on the usual rocking logs or pivoting-supports B, Fig. 2. to which the ferry-boat the dead load of the bridge may be supported to a greater or less extent although these are not necessary in all cases. In the present instance we have shown coune ropes or chains C C, 7 P on the fixed trestlework T T and also over pulleys p p, which are carried by the suspension-beams The outer ends of th bridge are suspende chains or links E E. each of these suspension-beams D D we proscrew-rods S S, and we pre a right-handed and the other with a left-handed thread. The lower ends of these screws pass through housings d in the beams D and have heads .9 at

lower ends, on which At its forward end, is to be connected,

by counterweights,

D D. of the In connection with their the beams and the susbe supported, but perthe rods S when d in order that these to elevate the that the In have shown the while provision is These nuts, hereinis necessary By preference A for two railroad-tracks or gangways; but 5 5 of course it will be understood that the bridge stood by reference to Figs. 3 and 4. One of the important features of this part of our invention consists in mounting the nut in such a way that the nut r nay rock or cant to accommodate itself to any tilting of the screwrod owing to movement of the bridge. The nut N in each case is for this reason mounted on its bearing-ring n so that it can rock therein, as by making a ball-joint or universal joint between the two. This ring 11/ is in the hollow hub 1' of the worm-wheel G, which hub can turn-in the fixed housing G, preferably on roller-bearings 1", Fig. 4. The worm-wheel G has inwardly-projecting teeth 9 Fig. 3, engaging outwardly-projecting teeth 11. on the nut N with sufiicient freedom of play between the two to permit the nut to rock on its bearing-ring 72.. When, as in the case described, the nuts are constructed to be rotated while the screws are non-rotating, the screws may be held from turning by the provision of key-seats in each screw-rod to receive the keyson some non-rotating part of the frame. In the case illustrated in the drawings we have shown key-seats 7c in the screws receiving keys (1 in the housings d on the suspension-beams D, as shown in the enlarged plan View, Fig. 5.

At any suitable point-as, for example, on one of the upright parts T of the trestlemay be provided a controller-house K with switches l and'controllers C, by which the motors M may be thrown into operation.

, The manner of handlin the apparatus in loadin and unloading tl1eI 0ats is as follows: A load ed ferry-boat entering the slip is secured by its mooring-ropes, and the bridge being raised with its toggles R R, Figs. 1 and 2, projected, the bridge is now lowered by the operation of the motors to bring the toggles to rest on the boat and the screws S being run down so that their heads are clear of the beams D, and the whole weight of the bridge is sustained by the boat. The boat thus now performs the function of a pontoon for the bridge. As the boat Q is relieved of its load it will rise in the water, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the bridge will rise with it. (See also dotted lines at right of Fig. 1.) The sustaining-beams D D run freely on the screw-rods S. In loading the boat everythin would remain in the same condition unti the mooringropes were loosened. Whenever desired, the operator can run up the screws S S and sustain the excess weight ofthe bridge upon the screws.

In this specification we use the term slip connection in a sufficiently broad sense to include any mechanical substitute for the slide already described and which will permit the bridge to rise independently of the screws. For example, in Fig. 6 we have shown as a modification a slip ciiiiiiect'iondn the form of a chain X, connectingthe lower end of each screw'-rod S to the suspension-beam D, so that while the raising of this screw-rod will consequently raise the bridge the latter can rise independently of the screw-rod by the slacking or slip of-the chain. In this case the screw-rod can be prevented from turning by providing keys in a art carried by the trestle-work T and by l aving the key seat in the rod S correspondingly farther up, as indicated.

We claim as our invention- 1. The combination of a ferry-bridge with a trestle, screw-rods to support the bridge with a slip connection, nuts fitted on the rods and carried by the trestle with rocking joints, and means to rotate one of said parts (nuts and rods) While the other is held from rotating.

2. The combination of a ferry-bridge with .counterbalanoing means, a trestle, screw-rods to support the bridge with a slip connection, nuts fitted on the rods and carried by the trestle with rocking joints and means to rotate one of said parts (nuts and rods) while the other is held from rotating,

- 3. The combination of a ferry-bridge with a trestle, non-rotating screw-rods to support the bridge with a slip connection, nuts fitted on the rods and carried by the trestle with rocking joints and worm-gear means to rotate the nuts.

4. The combination of a ferry-bridge with a counterbalancing means, a trestle, nonrotating screw-rods, supporting the bridge with slip connections, nuts fitted on the screw-rods, and carried by the trestle with rocking joints and wormgear means to rotate the nuts. 5

5. The combination of a ferry-bridge, with a trestle, non-rotating screw-rods to support the bridge with a slip connection, nuts fitted on the rods, worm-wheels mounted to turn in bearing in the trestle and supporting the nuts with a rocking connection.

6. The combination of a ferry-bridge with a trestle, non-rotating screw-rods to support the bridge with a slip connection, nuts fitted on the rods, worm-wheels mountedto turn in bearings in the trestle and having ball-joint supports for the nuts with toothed connections between the worm-wheels and nuts.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NATHAN W. CONDICT JAMES B. FRENCH.

Witnesses:

HUBERT HowsoN, EDNA W. COLLINS. 

